Chapter 22

Brody moved to her mouth, giving her no time to breathe, and took her lips again. The feel of her coming apart as he sucked her nipple and drove his fingers inside her had created an inferno in his body. He wanted to boost her onto the counter and take her. Craved it like his next breath.

Phoebe was a fire inside him he'd never extinguished. A fever there was no cure for.

"Fuck, Phee," he said against her lips.

"Yes," she whispered back, her eyes a bit dazed, which was exactly what he was feeling.

He'd come here to see if she was all right. To thank her for looking after Ally, but one look at those shorts and the shirt she wore with no bra, and he'd been gone.

"I want you," he rasped.

She tugged his shirt up his body, and then it was her mouth on him. Hot, wet kisses on his chest that drove him crazy. Her hand went to his jeans and stroked him through the zipper.

"Fuck," he gritted out, fairly sure that for the first time since his youth, he was about to disgrace himself. Pulling away from her, he grabbed his wallet and a condom. "We play next time, but not now. Now I need to be inside you."

"Yes, Brody."

Her eyes were filled with sultry heat, her breasts full, nipples hard and red from his kisses. Her long legs were coming out of those excuses for shorts.

"Looking at you again. Knowing you're here—" She stepped closer and kissed him, cutting off his words.

"No talking, no tomorrows. We have this." She dropped her shorts, then reached for him.

He nearly lost the power of speech when she opened his jeans, but his hands stopped her.

"Let me study your tattoo. Just thinking about it has been tormenting me."

"Later," Phoebe whispered. "Jeans off now."

He shucked them down, and she tugged down his boxers. She took the condom, and he watched her small teeth rip the foil, and then her hand grabbed his hard length. The air left his lungs as Phoebe rolled the condom on.

Brody grabbed her when she was done and lifted her onto the bench at her back. He then slid home. Phoebe opened, taking him deep inside her, muscles clenching and releasing as he thrust until she took all of him.

Her arms banded around his neck, and her long legs wrapped around his waist. Familiar, he thought, but so much more. Brody drove into her again and again, and the ragged sound of their breathing filled the small space. His mouth found hers in a savage kiss, and she took everything he gave her and sent it back.

His hands cupped her breasts, and her nails scored tracks down his back and the tension inside both of them spiraled higher .

This was different. It had always been good with Phoebe, but this was more… so much more. He felt it deep inside him. A connection.

When he felt the tremor of her release, his slammed into him. Gripping her hard, Brody let go.

He wasn't sure if it was minutes or an hour that he stood there holding her close, her arms and legs caging him in.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. You?" She raised her head to look at him.

"Better than okay." He ran his hands down the soft skin of her sides and felt something on her body. Turning her slightly, he saw the thick, long, ugly scar.

"What the fuck is that?" He hadn't meant to roar the words, but shock had them coming out that way. The softness in Phoebe's expression slid away, and she was suddenly closed up tighter than one of his mom's flowers he'd forgotten the name of. She pushed him back, but Brody didn't move.

"Phoebe—"

"Let me down, Brody."

He did because she looked frantic now. She then brushed past him and picked up her clothes. "The bathroom is through there." She pointed to the right and then walked away from him to her room.

"What the hell just happened?" He looked around him, and as no answer came back, he went to the bathroom. Once he'd dressed, Brody found Phoebe seated on the sofa again.

His phone rang as he moved to sit beside her. Pulling it out of his jeans pocket, he saw it was his mom. Answering the call, he listened to what she had to say.

"I'll be home in ten." Pocketing his phone, he looked at Phoebe. "Ally is sick, and when that happens, she just wants me. I?—"

"Go, Brody. Ally needs you," Phoebe said.

"I want to know about that scar, Phoebe."

"It's nothing and in the past. I'm sure there is a lot we don't know about each other, Brody. We don't need to make more of this than it is. We reconnected and had sex." Her eyes wouldn't meet his. "Go home to Ally now."

"It wasn't just sex, and you know it," he gritted out.

"Just go. Ally needs you."

He stood before her and bent at the waist, bracing two hands on the sofa behind her until their eyes were inches apart. "You know it wasn't just sex, like I do. It was never just that for us. We're talking soon, and when we do, I want to know about that scar."

She said nothing, and he had to get to Ally, so Brody kissed her and left.

That scar hadn't been an old one, he was sure of it. But how had it happened?

…

Ally was running a temperature, so he pushed aside the memories of what he'd just done with Phoebe, her body, the taste of her lips, and the sounds she'd made as he slid inside.

Fuck.

After dragging Dr. Hannah out of bed, she'd told him it was a virus, and he basically had to ride it out with the medications she gave him for Ally. As he'd been through plenty of sickness with his kid already, he knew what he was facing.

He got Ally into his bed because she usually wanted to be near him when she was feeling like this. After dosing her with what he'd been given, he then lay down beside her. Huffin, her little white scruffy mutt, crawled up the bed to lie with his head on her shoulder.

"She's okay, little guy," Brody said, stroking his soft fur.

Lying on his back, his thoughts went to Phoebe again and their lovemaking. They were going to talk, and soon, he thought as he felt his eyes grow heavy. How had she gotten that scar?

He woke, groggy, to the sound of retching.

"It's okay, baby." Ally was crying and emptying the entire contents of her stomach. Huffin had climbed onto Brody's pillow to avoid the projectile vomiting. After she was done, he changed the sheets and showered her and him. He forced her to drink something, and then she fell asleep again with a cool cloth on her forehead.

After dealing with the puked-on bedding and clothes, he fell back on the bed. Looking at the clock, he noted it was 7:00 a.m., so at least they'd both slept.

Checking his phone, he found messages from the group chat he was in with his family.

Mom: Need me to come over? How's my granddaughter?

Brody: Sleeping after puking on me, but okay. I got it but will call if I need anything.

Mom: Awwww. Call anytime. LOL. Heart emoji.

Brody: Will do. xx

Dan: Mom, LOL means laugh out loud, not lots of love. I've told you this already. Hands thrown in the air emoji.

Mom: Laughing emoji. xxxxx

Sawyer: Is she puking yet? Puking emoji.

Brody: I just said she was. Read the above message before you comment, idiot.

Birdie: Peppermint tea is good for settling the tummy. Lemon and ginger too.

Sawyer: She's ten. Don't force that crap down her throat.

Birdie: It's not crap! Mom used to give me that. Angry emoji .

Dan: Aren't you guys in the same house and could carry this conversation on in person? Four big red question mark emojis.

Ryder: I'll bring her favorite cookies over when she's better, and I just started some chicken noodle soup for you guys. Two cookie emojis. Chicken emoji.

Uncle Asher: I'm sick too. Cough, cough. Can I have some?

Dan: Still haven't worked out how those emojis work, Uncle Asher?

Uncle Asher: Middle finger emoji.

JD: My throat tickles something fierce. I'd like chicken noodle soup.

Zoe: Don't believe him. He's lying on the sofa with Velma eating peanut butter brownies.

Brody: LOL

Dan: See, Mom? That is the correct use of LOL.

Sawyer: I love peanut butter brownies.

Ally stirred beside him, and he looked down at her.

"You okay?"

She nodded.

"Uncle JD is feeding Velma peanut butter brownies." She smiled and her eyes closed again. He snapped a picture and sent it to his family. A series of awwww and hearts came back with an LOL text from his mom.

His family, Brody thought. They were the best.